(no subject)

mrthursday gave this meme....

Please keep in mind, I've not had decades worth of reading. So some of my answers are limited by my experience, as there's a lot out ther for me to read yet. But some answers I doubt will change.


First Real Book I Ever Read:
Desiree, by Annemarie Selinko
(god, I can't even remember how young I was when I read this. But it was young. Elementry school young. ah...Napoleon. Josephine. Desiree. Romance & betrayal & politics. Fond memories.)

Best Loved Children’s Book:
The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling
(I've warn out my copy or his stories. 2nd: Black Beauty)

Best Loved Children’s Author:
Marguerite Henry
(the only I can think of now, though there were others)

The First Book To Change Your Life:
Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
(off the top of my head-- I'm not at home right now and I really can't answer these properly without my bookshelf as reference)

Most Overrated Book:
Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
(I think I'm the only woman on the planet who WASN'T impressed by this book. I hated the main character, and the way the supposedly feminist-minded author had her character behave. On my grouch list right behind this is Tess of the D'Urbervilles.)

Most Underrated Book:

Another Underrated Book:

Best Loved Novels:
(in no particular order, these are just the top)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Drawing of the Three, by Stephen King
The Waste Lands, by Stephen King
Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
Farenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
(may add more to list later)

Best Loved Short Story collection:
The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling

Best Loved Science Fiction Authors:
Douglas Adams
Ray Bradbury
Orson Scott Card
Anne McCaffrey

Best Loved Fantasy Authors:
Stephen King
J. R. R. Tolkien
David Eddings
Vivian Velde

Best Loved Comic writer:
(is this a.] comedic writing, or b.] comic artists?)
a. Douglas Adams
b. Gary Larson, Rumiko Takahashi

Best Loved History Book:

Best Loved Book On Magic(k):
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher, by Bruce Coville
So You Want to Be a Wizard, by Diane Duane
(there's more, but my brain has fizzled right now-- these are children's books I read a long time ago)

Most Right Wing Book I Have Ever Read:

--Would books by George Orwell be right wing or left wing? I've only really discussed Animal Farm in a class before, and I know that seriously disses Socialism and Communism, as does 1984, but my political concept of "right" and "left" as labels is rather fucked up (why I'm taking poli-sci), so I don't which would apply.

Most Left Wing Book I Have Ever Read :
see above

Books I am Reading Right Now:
A Midsummer Night's Dream, by Shakespeare (2nd time)
Neverwhere, by Neil Gaimon
Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand

(there's like 5 more, but this is on the top of my head, because i'm always reading several at once)

I'll answer the questions that I left blank later, when I've thought about it some more.

Words

My new favorite line from Shakespeare, which I can't help but look at with a shippy eye. But even if I didn't, it's a good line.


"Things base and vile, holding no quantity
Love can transpose to form and dignity."

-A Midsummer Night's Dream

new fic rec-- DeNile, by Indri

I'm passing along a fic recommendation. It's a ficlet I love, very clever and amusing and well written.

No 'ships; just really good character interaction.

In fact, this one is all about Joyce, as seen by Spike. But don't expect any of that grossly sappy "Oh I luv you too mum, can I have hot chocolate every day of my life now?" crap. I never bought into the idea that seems to be so prevalent through fics that Spike would call Joyce "Mum." I always thought the show seemed to have Spike treating her like a respectable lady, and Joyce treating him like a refreshing intelligent fellow adult (as she never seemed to bond much with Giles, and everyone else is her daughter's teen friends), albeit one she feels the motherly need to cheer up sometimes when he's particularly pathetic.

This story seems to capture that feeling, although with an amusing air of Spike never seeming to quite believe his conversations with her are actually happening, as the idea of them being friends is rather ludicrous on both sides. But the Spike-perspective is perfect, and the affectionate but puzzled picture he paints of Joyce is one every Buffy fan can say they've also thought at some point in the show.

Good fic quote:

'Because really, what sort of a mother doesn't notice that her kid's the slayer? For three years? Just barmy! Mad as a hatter! And he's eaten a few milliners, so he should know.'

Anyway, you can find the link here: DeNile, by Indri

...

Test

Hm... I was bored, and I followed a link to an online IQ test.

I've taken two of these online before, one which had about 25 questions, and one which had abou 80. The former gave me a score of 126, and the latter a score of 125. That was about two years ago, both taken within days of each other.

*****

Congratulations, Sara!

Your IQ score is 131 [Unknown site tag]

http://www.emode.com/tests/uiq/

During the test, you answered four different types of questions — mathematical, visual-spatial, linguistic and logical. To determine your ability in these areas, we compared your answers to those given by the 6.5 million people who have taken Emode's Ultimate IQ Test.

Our analyses indicate that your Intellectual Type is: Visual Mathematician. This means that among other things, you have superior skills in mathematics and spatial reasoning.

*****

This test was 40 questions, and I scored higher, I don't know why.

However, if I take all the online scores from three tests and, as they are all unreliable being that they are all free and online, my average score is 127, which according to my Psych text book would make me approximately smarter than 96-98% of the national population. That's kind of cool. I wish I could take an official test though soemtime, instead of various online ones, which seem to vary in their results.